Hawkeye Grill Replacement

[Mikku]

So the front grill on my 2005 JDM Hawkeye WRX recently took a hit from some falling snow from my garage roof! The result is that it’s cracked in 3 places, as shown in the pics below!! 😭

Looking online, this plastic surround often seems to crack, so I guess it becomes more brittle and fragile with age. I could live with it short term but the side grill sections are also in fairly poor condition, with some clear coat and paint loss - another common problem it seems. Subaru replacements are not cheap, so I’m therefore thinking of replacing all three parts with an aftermarket, carbon-fibre set. There are plenty of these online but I’m assuming that they aren’t OEM quality, so was wondering if anyone here has bought a set and if so, can give some feedback on them? Thanks in advance for any replies.

[Tidgy]

breaker will prob have plenty of these, might not be in the right colour though.

As far as carbon goes, it's are rarley a perfect fit.

Really depends what you want to do, its not an uncommon mod

[Mikku]

Thanks for the reply! Yeah, I was expecting the fit of those carbon ones not to be so great. I therefore have my eyes on some second-hand genuine Subaru ones online albeit in another colour but like most things in Japan, they're not cheap. Cheaper than OEM though.

Have never visited a breaker's yard over here, so will see if there are any near where I live and go for a butcher's. That said, Subaru is not a popular brand over here and like in Blighty and elsewhere, WRX and STi models are highly sought after, so decent spare parts are priced accordingly.

Thanks again. Will update this when I have more news.

[Mikku]

So I snagged this second-hand grill set on Yahoo Auctions Japan last night. The colour's right and the price was okay (by Japanese standards). The mesh sections have a larger spacing than mine but from what I've seen online, I can swap those over. l need to do that anyway because one of the side pieces has a broken tab. Finger's crossed it all fits, though if it all goes Pete Tong I reckon I could sell it on pretty easily. In any case I probably won't use it until the Spring to avoid any more snow damage! Will post up some more pics when it arrives.

[Mikku]

So the "new" grill set arrived yesterday and I'm well chuffed! All three sections are in much better condition than mine, and it all seems to line up well, so I will swap everything over in the Spring. Below are a few pics to show the difference in mesh size.